


Such Fragile Broken Things

by Indiigocats



Category: Steven Universe (Cartoon), steven universe future - Fandom
Genre: Alternate Universe, fragmentedau
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-12-17
Updated: 2019-12-17
Packaged: 2021-02-25 23:27:22
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,051
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21833668
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Indiigocats/pseuds/Indiigocats
Summary: This is based off of an AU over on tumblr https://fragmentedau.tumblr.com/ the art and concept of this au is so interesting to me. The Cluster hasn't been mentioned in the show for so long I hope we get some kind of closure for it in SU: Future!"Steven ran his hand along his arm. Sharp flecks of glittering crystal protruded from his skin. The countless fragments of what were once living gems. Despite their fate they still glowed from within with the warmth of consciousness. Consciousness that screamed for their lost pieces."When Steven fused with the Cluster he never expected it to be so desperate to keep him. While he succeeded to calm the great geoweapon he didn't escape alone. Shards of the Cluster followed him, latching onto his body in a strange kind of fusion. Their disjointed voices fill his mind in every waking moment and there's one thing they demand over and over. The Cluster's freedom from the dark depths of the Earth.
Comments: 7
Kudos: 311





	Such Fragile Broken Things

Steven ran his hand along his arm. Sharp flecks of glittering crystal protruded from his skin. The countless fragments of what were once living gems. Despite their fate they still glowed from within with the warmth of consciousness. Consciousness that screamed for their lost pieces.

Steven shuddered as the sound filled his mind, he felt their despair at his very core like it was his own. That is how he had calmed the great Cluster.

~

The massive gem weapon Spinel had let loose on the Earth shifted it's crust and exposed it's vulnerable insides. Acidic biopoison seeping through every crack into the hot mantle below. The bubble the Cluster had remained in for so long had burst and now it was set to emerge and tear the Earth apart. There was no time to talk it down like before so Steven went to desperate measures. Fusion.

From that, he was plunged into a horrifying amalgamation of minds, toiling like a stormy sea of colour and light. Desperately, Steven pulled them together like he had once done. If they were never going to find their pieces then they would be whole together.  
When all was calm and Steven had succeeded some refused to let him leave. They held him tightly in their grasp, hundreds of hands pulling him down and locking him in. They wanted to feel whole again, they needed Steven to be whole again!  
When Steven had finally torn himself out of the fusion he didn't leave alone. Pieces of the cluster latched onto and permanently fused with his body and they were determined to never let him go.

~

Steven shook his head, pushing the memory from his mind. He looked at himself in the bathroom mirror where the largest pieces had implanted themselves across his forehead. They were the loudest, constantly filling his head with their thoughts making it difficult to concentrate on anything. He felt their presence in whatever he did and recently he had become more aware of himself being pulled towards the ground, drawn endlessly to the core of the planet. To the Cluster.

Steven flinched as the sea of voices in his head rose and filled him. He clutched his head, covering his ears like it would make a difference. They begged to be reunited with the Cluster, they begged for him to free them too. To bring them from the cold darkness to the surface.

"I can't do that!" Steven tried to get through to them, "The Earth won't survive!"

The Earth didn't matter to them anymore, they had their taste of freedom through him and they had grown insatiable.

"Listen to me, please! You have to listen to me!" Steven begged.

They didn't. They grew angry at Steven's refusal. A wave of their emotions hit him like a punch in the gut. He was overwhelmed as they pushed their anger onto him. It was too much, all of this was too much.

The shattering of glass silenced them.

Steven froze, lifting his head to the mirror. His fist was planted through it, shards of it scattered on the floor around him. Blood oozed gently from his knuckles as his skin faded from a glowing pink back to normal. Steven was breathless as he pulled his hand out and looked at it, he barely felt the pain.

"You will free us." The voices whispered.

Their words made his blood run cold. Steven glanced at the mirror pieces that littered the floor. Within them, there was no reflection of the bathroom, but of figures suspended in shadow.

Steven trembled, "I-I won't." He felt anger twinge within him, anger that wasn't his own.

"You will."

"No!" Steven stood his ground.

"No choice!"

An unseen force gripped Steven's arms and legs and dragged him to the ground. The shards of glass cut into him as he struggled. The Cluster shard's unbridled fury bore down on him as the ground began to shake.  
Steven grit his teeth, pulling himself to his feet. He was glowing pink again as the cluster raged in his head.

"Stop it!" He snapped.

Once again they refused to listen, their words were warped and incoherent.

"Stop it, now!" Steven screamed.

A shockwave rippled from him, jolting the house. Cracks shot up the walls and the floorboards crumpled, reducing the glass shards to dust. The ground stopped shaking and the bathroom's flickering light returned to normal.

Steven fell to his knees. The voices in his head now gone. His body ached all over, his hand and face burning as they continued to bleed.

"Steven!" Amethyst's panicked voice came from beyond the door.

Steven didn't have the strength to answer.

Amethyst burst into the room followed by Garnet and lastly Pearl.

"Steven what happened?" Amethyst questioned.

"The ground was shaking, didn't you feel it?" Steven breathed.

"There was no shaking, Steven." Garnet looked at him.

Steven looked to Pearl who stared at him, "It's true, there wasn't. Just when you yelled." There was a glimmer of knowing in her eye. She knew what Steven could do.

"B-but, the cluster." Steven said.

"Is deep in the ground, you calmed it, remember?" Amethyst put a hand on his shoulder.

"Yeah…"

"Come on, let's get you cleaned up." Pearl helped him to his feet. 

As he was lead away Steven looked back towards the bathroom. How could he have imagined all of that? He spotted something in the remains of the bathroom mirror that filled him with dread. The figure of a gem, Steven couldn't tell what kind as it's form seemed to constantly change. It opened its eyes. At first they were a cool blue but as they locked with Steven's they turned a vengeful orange. More eyes appeared on its body, wild and angry.

"Pearl!" Steven turned to her.

"Steven?"

"Look, in the mirror it's-" When Steven turned back it was gone, "It's...what?"

Pearl looked between him and the mirror, worry filling her clear blue eyes, "Come on, you need rest."

Steven turned away and kept walking with her. Another hallucination? No. This time it was real, Steven swore it was real.   
For the first time in days the voices in his head were silent and judging from the ball of fear that now sat in Steven's stomach, this was far from a good thing.

**Author's Note:**

> Just a quick little one shot for now! Once the creator for this AU reveals some more details about it I may write a more full fledged story :o   
> I hope you enjoy reading this 💗💗


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